Charlie: A journey from the Aussie bush to battle skies far away

This is the story of a young man, living and working as a Jackaroo in rural Queensland. He'd always wanted to fly. In 1941 Charlie enlisted in the RAAF's Commonwealth Empire Air Pilot Training Scheme, as part of Australia's commitment to Great Britain in its fight against Germany. Charlie's decision would take him on a journey from life on the land to far away places, by ship to Canada and then Britain, where the greatest challenges and dangers he faced were in the battle skies over Europe. A fiery crash during training in England was a setback, Charlie taking months to recover before he continued with training.

 

In an aircrew of two Brits, three Canadians and two Aussies, Charlie would fly more than the tour of 30 missions in Lancaster bombers, his role being the Bomb aimer. After more than four years service in the RAAF, RCAF and RAF, Charlie reflected on that time -

 

It was a life and death situation, with serious lifelong effects. However, peace brought everybody back to earth and a fresh start had to be made, and for many, changed circumstances had to be dealt with for the rest of their lives.